South Carolina’s Dawn Staley praised for calling timeout

GREENVILLE, S.C. (FOX Carolina) - South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley is a champion for countless causes and led by example Saturday in the Gamecocks Sweet 16 win over UCLA.

Late in the third quarter UCLA forward Emily Bessoir went down after a battle for an offensive rebound. South Carolina’s Aliyah Boston won the war and the Gamecocks started to push it down the floor. Bessoir remained on the ground while South Carolina looked to add to their mounting lead with a five-on-four advantage.

Not many may have noticed Bessoir on the ground. Whether they saw her or not, the referees did not call an injury timeout.

So Staley did.

“It was the right thing to do,” said Staley. “It was the right thing to do to make sure the young lady was ok.”

UCLA head coach Cori Close made a point to thank Staley both on the court and publicly in the post-game press conference.

“That’s exactly what it showed, her class and her global view of the game and what was most important in that moment,” said Close. “She did call that timeout only because of Emily being down. Right after the play, I just turned to her and I just said, ‘Thank you, Dawn,’ and she acknowledged it.”

“I know Cori,” explained Staley. “I would have done it for anybody, though, but I know Cori well, and I know the type of coach and person that she is. She would have done it, she would have done the same thing had one of our players went down.”

South Carolina went on to win the game 59–43 to advance to the Elite 8 in the women’s NCAA tournament.

The Gamecocks play Maryland Monday night at 7:00 p.m.

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